Wrightwood is a very small town located in the state of California. With a population of 4,720 people and just one neighborhood, Wrightwood is the 534th largest community in California.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Wrightwood is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Wrightwood is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Wrightwood who work in teaching (15.44%), management occupations (11.20%), and office and administrative support (10.33%).
Of important note, Wrightwood is also a town of artists. Wrightwood has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Wrightwood’s character.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 23.05% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
In Wrightwood, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 35.64 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.
Being a small town, Wrightwood does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The education level of Wrightwood ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Wrightwood, 41.60% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.
The per capita income in Wrightwood in 2022 was $50,089, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $200,356 for a family of four. However, Wrightwood contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Wrightwood is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Wrightwood home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Wrightwood residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Wrightwood also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 12.58% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Wrightwood include Irish, German, English, French, and Polish.
The most common language spoken in Wrightwood is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
If you are planning to retire in California, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in California, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 96.5% of neighborhoods in CA. If a California retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit. In addition to being an excellent choice for active retirees, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for first-time home buyers.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Danish and Dutch ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Danish ancestry and 3.7% have Dutch ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Wrightwood are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 48.6% of the neighborhoods in America. With 12.0% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 54.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 58.6% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 18.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (12.9%), and 10.3% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 94.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Wrightwood, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (21.8%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (20.1%), and residents who report English roots (14.3%), and some of the residents are also of Mexican ancestry (10.1%), along with some Asian ancestry residents (4.4%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (33.3% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (72.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.